


Could've (Should've) Been Me

by somanyfeels



Category: Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Disabled Character, Canon Divergence - Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Canon-Typical Violence, Hurt Tony Stark, M/M, Major Character Injury, Minor Bucky Barnes/Sam Wilson, Not Team Steve Friendly, POV James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Protective Rhodey
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-03
Updated: 2017-02-23
Packaged: 2018-08-12 17:51:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7943698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somanyfeels/pseuds/somanyfeels
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rhodey watched as Vision’s blast his Tony and sent him crashing to the ground.  This wasn’t how the battle should have gone, this wasn’t how the Avengers were supposed to end.  Rhodey made it out of the battle unscathed, but he’s done with the war yet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer: this is an au where Tony takes the hit at the airport instead of Rhodey. It is from Rhodey’s POV, thus his opinions are very biased against Team Cap in this because of the circumstances. I do not hate Steve.

Rhodey was tired. This mess wasn’t what it should have been, it wasn’t what they had planned for.  They were here to arrest criminals for ignoring international law, for violating a UN agreement based around the public calls for regulation. Tony understood that, Rhodey understood that, even Vision seemed to understand.  The rest of the team didn’t care though.

They were fighting back. Tony’s plan was to go easy on them but Rhodey ended up with a gas truck thrown at him by former teammates who didn’t seem to care anymore.  Didn’t care about international law and public safety and they didn’t care about injuring the rest of them.

Nothing worked out the way it should today, the team shouldn’t be fighting each other tooth and nail because the people decided that they didn’t trust them.  They shouldn’t be blowing up airports and causing mass hysteria.  They shouldn’t be ignoring what people said they needed in order to feel safe.  None of them, not even Captain America, could decide for 117 countries what was best for them.  Rhodey hated today.  Today was a disaster.

“They seem angry.” Rhodey said as Tony went to go check on Spider Man.  “It’s almost like they wanted Ross to send a kill team.”

“Not gonna happen.” Tony said.  Rhodey grunted in agreement because even though they weren’t a team anymore they still didn’t want to see them get put on a kill list.  “They’re getting away.”

Most of the team had been captured and restrained, but Rhodey could see the jet leaving the hangar. After everything Rhodey wasn’t going to lose them now, not when Tony had already put so much on the line to stop Cap and the team from being labelled international terrorists and a threat to public safety.  Rhodey was ready to back Tony up because some foolish part of himself wanted to think the Avengers were still fighting for good.

Sam was hot on their tail as they went after the jet.  Rhodey was just so damn tired of today and he wanted this fight to be over.  It never should have happened in the first place. These guys were supposed to be the good guys, not violent criminals.

“Vision, I’ve got a bandit on my six.”  Rhodey said. They were closing in on the jet, his scanners telling him that both Rogers and Barnes were inside.  They were trying to escape, leaving behind the rest of the team, and Rhodey didn’t know why.  Missiles blipped on his radar and then exploded in front of him, but they were useless.  Wilson’s wings didn’t have enough firepower to take down the armor.  “Vision, do you copy?  Target his thrusters, turn him into a glider.”

Tony shifted his flight path, only slightly so that he was flying a bit closer to Rhodey as they continued to go for the jet.  When he looked back on this moment, every day for the next few weeks, he wouldn’t be able to piece together what had happened. There was a flash of light, a blip on the radar, and a crackle on Tony’s comm.  The War Machine armor was heavy, its forward momentum kept him going towards the jet and by the time he got turned around and racing towards Tony’s falling, broken armor he knew he wasn’t going to reach it in time.

That didn’t stop him from trying.  He saw the hole where the arc reactor should be, could see the darkness in his helmet. Tony was flying dead-stick and he was only picking up speed as he fell.  If Tony hit the ground from that high up and at that speed then it wouldn’t matter how strong and protective Tony made the armor.  Rhodey flew as fast as he could, willing his thrusters to work harder and catch that red hunk of metal that was getting too close to the ground too quickly.

He didn’t make it. Tony hit the ground and a puff of dirt burst upward and blocked him from view.  It was too late, Rhodey pulled back and slowed his decent so he didn’t end up crashing face first into the ground.  He landed a few feet from the wreckage and he saw the crumpled mess of Tony’s suit as the dust cleared.  Tony was alive in there, Rhodey knew he was, he just had to go up there and rip the faceplate off and he’ll see that ugly smirk.  Tony had survived a lot worse than this.

Rhodey didn’t move closer. The arc reactor had been taken out in the blast, which was why the armor was so dark and wasn’t moving.  Not because Tony was dead.  He was alive and pissed off and trapped in that armor and Rhodey had to get him out.  But he couldn’t will himself to move closer.  His faceplate retracted and he looked at that armor with his own two eyes and tried to force himself to go to it.  He couldn’t because…

Sam landed on the other side of Tony, a few feet away and his mouth opening slightly to say something. No sounds came though and at his presence Rhodey finally pushed himself closer to Tony, dropping to his knees by his side and waiting.  Tony would be alive.  Rhodey would rip the faceplate off and Tony would tell him some stupid joke that he’ll laugh at no matter how bad it was.

Rhodey’s hand hovered over it, pausing for just a moment because what if…  Because…  He ripped it off, not waiting a moment more and tossed it aside.  Tony was pale under the helmet, his skin clammy and ghostly white. He was bleeding from several cuts on his face and forehead.

“Tony?”  Rhodey said, the roughness of his voice surprised him. He sounded as if he had swallowed handfuls of sand and was now desperate for water.  “Tony, please!  Friday?”

No answer came.  Tony’s suit was dark and powerless and no one was answering him.  He was alive, he had to be.  Even if Rhodey had to pry Tony out of his suit and give him CPR he would do it because this asshole was not allowed to die just yet.  Tony looked so broken and vulnerable, his suit a mangled mess, and Rhodey would have to keep him safe.

“I’m sorry.”  Sam said, taking a small step closer.

Rhodey raised his hand and shot him away.  He had to keep Tony safe and these guys were the enemy.  They were criminals.  This whole fight had been a disaster.  The world would be better off once they were all in prison, they clearly didn’t care about the people they hurt when they decided to just do whatever they want.

They were just here to arrest them, not even to hurt them, just to bring them in because of the crimes they were carelessly committing.  It wasn’t supposed to turn out like this.  Rhodey quickly stepped back and retracted his armor, getting himself free so he could get to Tony.  He had to get him out of the armor, he had to check his pulse and give emergency first aid if needed.

“Colonel Rhodes.” Vision said, floating closer and closer and Rhodey just wanted to scream at him.  “Mr. Stark is alive.  Please do not remove the armor or you’ll risk further injuring him.  Emergency medical services are already on their way.”

Rhodey wanted to fight him away and keep Tony safe.  The team couldn’t be trusted, not when they were so willing to throw cars and explosions at them, to beat them into the dirt and break them just so they wouldn’t have to face justice.  Rhodey hated them, he hated all of them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you it would be a wait for another chapter. Whoops.  
> Also friendly reminder that I don't hate Steve. I love Steve. But Rhodey at this point might hate Steve.

Tony had a habit of dying.  Rhodey had gotten used to it over the years.  The first time it had happened was at a college party, he had gotten drunk and disappeared.  Even as all the other students dispersed and went back to their dorms, Rhodey couldn’t find Tony.  It wasn’t until later that night when Rhodey was done digging through dumpsters and alleys looking for him did he go back to their dorms and find the idiot passed out in the stairwell.

Rhodey also remembered Christmas break, when Tony went home for the holidays and a few days later he had heard the news.  No one had all the details, just that the Starks were killed in an accident.  No one was able to tell him if Tony was with them or not.  Tony was dead for a few hours as Rhodey tried calling him again and again.  Tony was fine.  Not really, but he was alive.

Afghanistan was the first time Rhodey didn’t even entertain the idea of Tony being dead, he just went after him.  That mess with the Mandarin destroyed Tony’s house and he was missing for a while, but Rhodey knew he wasn’t dead.  This time was no different.  They arrived at the hospital and Tony was taken into surgery.  Rhodey ended up waiting, his feet tapping against the tiles loudly in the quiet room.  Vision stayed by his side, Natasha came and went every few hours.  Sam had been arrested.

This had all gone too far.  It was a mess and nobody seemed to remember the real reason they were doing this.  They were the Avengers to help people, and now people were just getting hurt.  He couldn’t understand what Steve was thinking, what was so important that he would violate international law without a single effort to negotiate or reach out to help.  There had to be a reason, there was always a reason for people to do stupid shit and what Rogers was doing was definitely stupid.  There were better ways of getting what he needed done than this, he was Captain America and people were willing to negotiate with him.

“Have we heard anything yet?”  Natasha asked as she took a seat next to him.  The room was so very quiet, only the constant tapping of Rhodey’s foot and the buzz of the air conditioner were disturbed by her question.

It was a stupid question anyway.  “He’s not out of surgery yet.  It was a long drop.”  Rhodey said.  He could still see it when he blinked.  From a thousand different perspectives and Rhodey was wondering if he was chasing Tony’s falling body or watching it on the news during New York. “Why didn’t you stop them?  Why did you let them go?”

Natasha looked up at the clock, waiting as the second hand ticked.  “They weren’t going to stop, Rhodes.  They were on a mission and they were going to get it done, regardless of the costs.  I made a call, I figured they would do what they had to do and then we could bring them in.  I just wanted to prevent someone getting hurt.”

Rhodey wondered briefly that if their roles were reversed, if he and Tony had broken international law and were going to be arrested, if she would offer them the same chances.  He didn’t want to make judgements on what wasn’t going to happen, the thought slipped away.   Though he couldn’t get rid of the bitter feeling in the pit of his stomach knowing that she had chosen them.

“I’m just still confused on why you brought T’challa in only so you can attack him when he went after who he clearly stated he wanted to kill.  He’s been talking about it endlessly, Barnes this, Barnes that.  Why?”  Rhodey asked.

Natasha shook her head and stood up.  She reminded Rhodey of a wild animal, hunted by poachers and lurking in the tall grass.  She was dangerous and she had let those bastards go.  Rhodey was about to shake out of his own skin if he didn’t do something fast.  He was going to end up breaking something and he didn’t want it to be something important.  He wanted it to be Rogers, who broke the law and put people in danger, yet still acts like he was high and mighty for not signing the damn Accords.

“Tony is my friend.  You may not believe that right now but I do genuinely care about him.  I care about all of you.  I wanted what Tony wanted and that was to keep our team together.  The fight was going too far, Steve threw a building at Spider Man and someone threw an exploding truck.  It had to stop before it got worse.  I let them go and I don’t regret that.”  Natasha was steady, standing in front of Rhodey with her head high and her voice calm.  He believed her, and she was right that things were going too far.

Rhodey wasn’t in the mood to argue with her anymore.  She was here with him and Vision as they waited for any word on Tony.  After a fall like that, no one was optimistic.  Rhodey would have to talk to Pepper, apologize to the spider kid once this was over for the mess that fight had turned into, and hopefully yell at Tony for something.  Because Tony wasn’t going to die and Rhodey was sure he would be mad at Tony for something soon.  He looked forward to it, Tony would say something witty and nonchalant and he would be fine.

He wasn’t entirely sure how many hours went by before Tony was out of surgery and how long it took for him to finally get in to see him, but when he finally walked into that hospital room it brought back too many memories.  At least this time there was no new glowing machine in his chest.  No, this time Tony had a busted up face, shattered skull, and damaged spine.

Vision and Natasha came in to see him too.  It was all so surreal.  Things had changed so much and so drastically in just a few days that it was making his head spin.  A month ago he was an Avenger, believing that they were all doing what had to be done to keep people safe.  And as of today most of the former Avengers were considered international terrorists and Tony had almost died.  Rhodey would have to arrest them.  He wanted to pretend like he was going to go after them because of the Accords, because it was the right thing to do so the people they swore to protect wouldn’t be afraid of them anymore.  But Rhodey was so angry.  He felt the rage so deep in his bones he clenched his fists to stop them from shaking.

Rhodey’s phone had been flashing for a while, messages from military officials, from Pepper, from FRIDAY, from everyone who had questions or concerns about what happened at the airport.  He had been avoiding it for some time.  He didn’t want to deal with the rest of this mess until he was sure Tony was fine.  Tony would survive, Rhodey was starting to think that nothing in the world would ever actually kill him.  He decided to answer his messages, calm Pepper’s nerves and update her on Tony, and see whatever it was FRIDAY felt was so important that couldn’t wait until Tony was awake.

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer: this is an au where Tony takes the hit at the airport instead of Rhodey. It is from Rhodey’s POV, thus his opinions are very biased against Team Cap in this because of the circumstances. I do not hate Steve.
> 
> I am working on my other fics quite a bit so I may not update this as often as I would like, but hopefully you guys enjoy it anyway. Comments are appreciated and may inspire me to write faster.


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